Laurus Corporation Acquires Hilton Salt Lake City Airport

Press Release

July 25, 2012

Laurus Corporation, a real estate investment and development firm, announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Hilton Salt Lake City at Salt Lake City International Airport.

The Hilton Salt Lake City, a 288-room full service hotel, enjoys beautiful views of the lake and mountains and is ideally located just two miles from the Salt Lake City International Airport, 10 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City and immediately adjacent to Interstate 80 and the Salt Lake International Center, which is home to more than 40 companies specializing in broadcast, distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology related products and services. The prime location is also close to the Miller Motor Sports Park, Rocky Mountain Raceway and less than an hour away from 13 world-class ski resorts, including Snowbird and Park City Mountain Resort. Laurus Corporation formed SLC Hotel Partners, LLC as an investment vehicle to acquire the asset, and plans to implement a renovation program to upgrade the property, as well as to rebrand it under the Doubletree by Hilton franchise.

“The Hilton Salt City Airport aligns with our strategy to make opportunistic investments in high-quality assets within major markets that offer superior risk-adjusted returns. Salt Lake’s diverse economic base, strong demographics and exceptional hotel market fundamentals attracted us to the area. We will implement a renovation program to enhance the guest experience and cement the property’s position as the premier asset in its submarket,” said Andres Szita, chairman of Laurus Corporation.

The hotel, built in 1985 and renovated in 2007, sits on a 7.2-acre highly visible site, and features more than 13,000 square feet of flexible meeting space that can accommodate groups of up to 500. The property also hosts an array of amenities, including a spacious restaurant with indoor-al-fresco dining, business center, indoor-outdoor pools, fitness center, event lawn, executive level club lounge, flexible sports and basketball courts, putting green, and walking path.

Salt Lake City is among the top 50 MSAs in the country and has seen phenomenal population growth of more than 23 percent since 2000, which is nearly double the national average.

“Commercial activity has strengthened in recent years as a result of the city’s attractive incentive programs for new and existing companies, yielding an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent, thirty percent below the national average,” added Szita.

Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) is the fourth largest and westernmost hub for Delta Airlines and is the closest commercial airport for surrounding counties. A total of 21 million passengers traveled through Salt Lake City International Airport last year, ranking it as the 21st busiest airport in the United States in terms of total passengers. In addition to its strong domestic connectivity, SLC is becoming an international destination with flights arriving from Canada, Mexico, Japan and France.